Friday, May 31, 2013

In a recent podcast of The Future and You, host Stephen Euin Cobb cited an outdated theory of memory formation and storage. Rather than simply issue a correction, he sat down to talk with memory researcher Dr. Robert Hampson to discuss the current science of memory, as well as memory storage and structure. This interview had enough material for three programs, so here is "Part One" of Memory, on The Future and You!

Monday, May 27, 2013

I've just had my attention called to a new comic by Dante Sheppard. The name is "PhD Unknown," (http://phdunknown.com) and so far there's only one panel of content up so far - but Dante is promising "Fierce Creatures, Biology and Grad School." Sounds like my kind of place.

I've been a fan of Dante Sheppard's "Surviving the World" (http://survivingtheworld.net/) for many years. It's a simple daily comic with funny and pointed life lessons written on a blackboard. The anachronism alone is worth it, but the observation about life, university, science and ... well, life, keeps bringing me back.

Happy Memorial Day to my U.S. friends and readers. Lots of projects in the works. Just this evening I recorded an interview with Stephen Euin Cobb for his "The Future and You" podcast (http://www.thefutureandyou.com/). We talked for nearly two hours, so it will probably be cut into a number of segments. I'll post some links as those segments are aired.

I'm also hard at work on my next nonfiction piece for Baen Books: "A Terrible Thing to Lose" about science and a zombie apocalypse. It's a companion piece for the release of John Ringo's Under a Graveyard Sky due for release in September 2013. The article will likely run in August or September on the Baen Books website (http://www.baen.com).

Enjoy the unofficial beginning of Summer, and stay tuned as I finish up the series on writing research grants and dig out more neat news from the world of brain science!

Friday, May 24, 2013

After a wonderfully relaxing and much-needed vacation break, I've been trying to figure out which topic to tackle next in the blog. I have a couple of installments left on the writing of research grants and plenty of science news articles that caught my eye... many weeks ago. Thus I am afraid I am not quite current and up to date.

Then New Scientist came to the rescue.

New Scientist is a science news magazine based in the UK, and they have a great daily news feed with many interesting articles. They are a high-quality magazine (and I'm not saying that just because they've interviewed me) because they have scientists with real communications skills writing about science.

Of course not. This is New Scientist. Instead, I found a fascinating article about "Cotard's Syndrome" an extremely rare psychological disorder in which patients are convinced (despite evidence to the contrary) that portions of their body are dead or missing.

I have mentioned in prior posts on amnesia and brain damage that there are syndromes of "Neglect" in which damage to sensory areas of brain lead a patient to "neglect" or ignore a body part and act as if it is not there. Visual neglect causes a patient to ignore part of their visual field - to the point of not consciously being aware of objects in that portion of their field of view, even though they can still have emotional or reflex reactions to those objects. Somatic neglect (i.e. applied to the body) can cause a person to "forget" that they have arms, legs, fingers, toes - until they become rather surprised to actually see them, or touch them with the limbs from the opposite side of the body.

"Neglect" typically results from stroke or head injury, and results from real damage to the portions of the brain that receive sensory feedback from the neglected body part. Not so Cotard's syndrome, which is not associated with obvious injury.

The most profound and puzzling example of Cotard's Syndrome is detailed in the New Scientist article - "Graham" is a man who was convinced that his brain was dead, and he was merely an empty shell that was walking around. Neurologists and psychologists believed that Cotard's was simply a manifestation of depression, and there may be some common origins. However, Graham not only told told doctors that his brain had died after a failed suicide attempt, his body eventually started to show signs of decay: He lost sense of taste and smell, his hair fell out, his gums blackened, and felt like he was simply going through empty motions.

Brain scans provided the first clue to what was really going on. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans of the metabolic activity of the brain showed that the activity in the Frontal and Parietal Lobes were suppressed well below normal activity. Within the brain, particularly the deep areas of the Frontal Lobe is what is termed by neurologists the "Default Mode Network" which is always active when an individual is conscious. The network is central to memory of self, personal history and awareness of surroundings. Yet in Graham, those brain areas were more typical of a person in a coma or vegetative state - so yes, as far as activity was concerned, his brain was "dead."

Eight years of psychotherapy and medication have returned Graham to the land of the living - and his brain scans show a return to more normal patterns - but this case, and others with Cotard's syndrome point out a fascinating linkage between the brain, the mind and the body. Without a certain minimal activity of the Default Mode Network, Graham had no sense of self - exaggerated to a sense that that self was in fact dead. With no psychological investment in life, his body started to show signs of death as well, manifesting the lack of involvement in the physical world.

We often joke about "Zombies" as brainless individuals (as opposed to mystical walking dead) but could a complete suppression of Frontal Lobe function really produce the Walking Dead of story and myth? I'll be exploring these themes this summer in an article I am writing for Baen Books, and I'll link it here when published.

Sarah was standing in the middle of
the dining room.All patrons had stopped
eating, drinking and talking.

"There's only one explanation
for this.MASON?"she shouted.But there was no answer.

"May'yam?"A small voice asked.

Sarah looked down at the short,
wizened man holding a *large* key ring.She barely controlled her temper."Yesssss" she hissed.

"Ah've got th' Men's Room
unlocked."There was no
answer.Sarah continued to stare at
him."Ah'm the *locksmith*" he
pronounced it 'lahk-smee-ith'.Still no
response."Baen sent me?"

Sarah took a deep breath.There was no sense in getting mad at *this*
fellow. "I'm sorry.Yes, you
unlocked it.What was the problem?"

"Well…" he paled, "Ah
cain't rightfully say. Ah've seen some strange contraptions in mah lahf, but Ah
hain't nevah seen one lahk this!"

"Oh. No."

With mutters of 'Rex' and 'Mason'
and 'lunatic' the entire Diner tried to crowd into the hallway leading back to
the restrooms.There was only room for a
few.Speaker was closest, quickly followed
by Sarah and Laura.Being the *smallest*
in the Diner, the locksmith, LabRats™ and The Drool also managed to squeeze
in.

It was a Plumber's Nightmare.Pipes led everywhere.Many of the configurations were simply
impossible – that one just *couldn't* turn inside out and still keep the water
inside.The pipes were of many types:
lead, copper, PVC, glass, plastic.Where
the liquid was visible it glowed in eye-hurting colors: bright purple-green,
deep indigo-yellow, intense cyan-red.Water dripped, pooled and ran all over the fixtures and floor.

No one dared approach any closer,
either.Off to one side stood a Jacob's
ladder, bright blue sparks climbing up the wires, then jumping into the air,
only to ground out on the wet piping and run blue-white and crackling down to
the floor.

There was a faint breeze blowing
out from the apparatus.There was a
clear area in the center surrounding one of the stalls, and on the closed door
of the stall was the diner clock that had once hung on the wall over the
kitchen window.The rapidly spinning
hands were the source of the moving air.

The sparks stopped.The water slowed to a trickle.The colors faded.The stall door opened and out stepped Rex
Mason leading a man with white hair and long flowing white beard.Normal for Rex, he didn't notice the audience
and continued talking to the man as fast as possible:

"…and you should see the tanks
– I just love the tanks – although yours needed more guns – you should
definitely have more guns – did you know that if you have enough guns and you
fire three adjacent guns you don't even need a motor? – It's just like a rocket drive – fire the guns
and the tank moves in the opposite direction – Newton's third law – did you
know Newton?– helicopters – I just
*love* helicopters – although they need to go faster – you didn't need that
corkscrew thingy – but it needed to go faster – you could have put guns on the
ends of the blades! –fire the guns and it's just like rockets – rocket assisted
helicopters – that's a great idea – and if we use just the *right* rockets I'll
bet we could get the blades to go faster-than-light – FTL helicopters – and
since the blades are going around in circles the vectors will all cancel out
and there'll be no problems with causality – speaking of vectors I was looking
at the Vitruvian Man and you definitely needed to draw more arms and legs – I
mean you were on the right track, but if you want to make him faster and
stronger he needs more arms and legs…"

Rex finally looked up and noticed
the crowd.

"Hi Sarah! – look who I found –
I told everyone I needed to find someone who appreciated my genius – I just
needed another genius! – master da Vinci, this is Sarah – Sarah, this is
Leonardo da Vinci – I'm sorry, I don't speak Italian, but isn't that a little
bit like Portuguese? – Say hi to him in Portuguese, Sarah – I don't want him to
think we're *strange* or something!"

Back in the crowd someone muttered
"That boat has already sailed."

Sarah was visibly trying to calm
herself.Speaker offered a small silver
flask and whispered, "it's the Oban 21."

"It's a Time Machine – I
didn't have all of the parts I needed after Chris took off with my FTL ship, so
I thought 'Time only flows in one direction, and water only flows in one
direction!' –If I could get the water
to flow in several directions then I might get time to flow in several
directions, too! – I worked all night on it – sorry about the Men's Room, but I
needed lots of water and I knew Laura would never let me build it in the
kitchen – so I thought 'Where can I find plenty of water and pipes – and I was
just sitting here in this stall and it came to me – so I made all of this and
then I installed the clock and made it go backwards but I needed electricity
and I thought we had this old spark machine and it's kind of like lightning so
I put it in here but it makes all of the pipesact funny and you feel all tingly when the water runs backwards so I
closed the door to keep the LabRats™ out and I …"

"Oh, that's okay! – that's why I worked at night – Speaker's here –
Speaker's here every night past midnight – I figure if he can talk to the
LabRats™, he can talk to Master da Vinci!"

"Rex!He has to go back!Your machine has had too many side effects –
I've got Musketeers and poets and English Royalty and even Vlad the Bloody
Impaler running around the Diner.It
*has* to be put back!"

Rex's expression
fell.It was a terrible thing to
see.One minute, manic and with the
brightest expression a human face cold hold, the next, it was lower than The
Drool.It was a shameful, wasteful thing
to do, but it had to be done.

In a quiet voice
Rex answered " 'kay."

"Rex.All the way back – do you understand?"

" 's."

"No little
windows in time, no cell phones to the future."

" 'kay."

"Rex?"

" 's
ma'am."

"Good.Fortunately I *do* speak Italian." Sarah
turned to da Vinci and spoke with him briefly, then Rex led him back into the
stall, closed the door, and every stood back as the pipes gurgled, sparks
jumped, and the clock began to wind backward.

"So what did
you tell him?" Laura asked Sarah.

"She told him
it was all a bad dream and that he should lay off of the pepperoncini and no
more than one limoncello before bedtime!" Speaker answered with a wide
grin.

---

It was past
midnight.Once Rex had returned and
dismantled the machine, things had returned to normal.Laura had cleaned up the kitchen, Dick and
Eeyore returned to the Tavern for a nightcap, but not before sending over an
unopened bottle of twenty-one year old Balvenie Portwood for Sarah.The other patrons had gone home, leaving s2la
at his laptop and a dejected looking Wolfie.

"Lifted it
again?" asked Speaker.

"Damn
right" said Sean. "and thanks again for the ride."

The rats had
finished cleaning and were playing with the new floor.They'd set the friction coefficient all the
way down and were playing their own version of air hockey."Set it back, guys, time to pack
up" called Speaker.

"Sure,
Boss!" replied Ratley.

Once it was safe to
walk on the floor the rats hopped back to s2la and found their places in the
pockets of his vest and coat as he put on his calfskin gloves and top hat then
picked up his walking stick.

After locking the
door, Speaker turned to Sean and said "One thing I've wondered,
though…"

"What's
that?"Wolfie asked, donning a set
of gleaming brass and glass goggles.He
settled into the plush passenger seat of Speaker's conveyance as the steam release valve hissed.

"Why did Rex
think he needed *electricity*?"

---

[This concludes our "filler" entertainment. Speaker and the Lab Rats' Guide to the Brain should be back later this week with the final 3 segments of How to Write a Research Grant Proposal, More MONDAY FUNNY, and the newly renamed SCIENCE FRIDAY news and comment feature. Thanks for your attention!]

Friday, May 17, 2013

[Things are not right in the Diner: Sarah's speaking backward, there's Musketeers in the back booth, and they're speaking in Blank Verse... and just what *is* The Drool?]

The Drool was not happy.The floor was too slippery, the Men's Room
door was blocked, the Dinerite's were acting strangely, and The Bassett wasn't
here yet.

The LabRats™ were here, though, and
they were usually entertaining. Only Speaker seemed to understand them, but
they took instruction well.It was a bit
too crowded for them to start cleaning the diner, maybe they'd start out
back.The Drool would follow along and
watch.

Under the direction of the biggest
one – 'Ratley' is what Speaker called him – the rats pushed a wedge under the
Ladies' Room door and moved a sign in front of the doorway.'Closed for Cleaning.'The sound of water, paper rustling, and
brushing sounds came from within.

Amanda came back and stood outside
the Ladies' Room and stood tapping her foot impatiently.The rats finished up and quickly got out of
her way.The Drool wisely slid over
toward the Men's Room.It Would Not Do
to be caught outside the restroom door when one of the Diner's females came
out.

There was such an intriguing blue
glow coming under the door.A couple of
rats finished in the Ladies' Room and tried the Men's Room door.When it wouldn't open, then moved on to the
utility washroom – handicapped restroom back by the kitchen.With Laura still rattling around in the
kitchen, they wouldn't dare go in there yet.

The smallest rat, Ratface, came
back and stood in front of the Men's Room door.He leaned on the door.It didn't
move.He looked under the door, squeaked
a couple of times, then squeezed himself through the crack under the door and
disappeared.The Drool considered
whether to follow.Certainly if a small
rat could squeeze under that door, The Drool could do so as well.The blue glow, though.Whenever things Glowed in the Diner, strange
things happened. Meanwhile Amanda came
out and returned to the dining room.Strangely, it hadn't taken her very long considering that she had
changed into that long dress with the ruffed collar.

In a little while Ratface came back
out and ran back to the rest of the cleaning crew.At least The Drool *thought* it was
Ratface.He had trouble squeezing under
the door, and his fur was more gray than black, but since Ratface went in, it
could only be Ratface coming out.Right?The Drool thought about
this for a moment, and never for a moment thought about the fact that it was
*thinking*!

---

"Dom. Lunch."Laura called into the intercom.Whatever was happening out in the dining
room, she knew she had hungry customers.She had a complete menu ready to go.Soup and sandwich for Sarah, Faux chicken enchilada casserole for Dom,
waffles for Dick, bangers and mash for Kit, a burger and fries for Wolfie,
croque monsieur for D'Artagnan, fish and chips for Elizabeth…

What?
Who?

"Ratley, if you're going to be
in my kitchen, get to work."

"Yes, Ms. Laura."

"You and the boys take this
out to Table 1."

"Sure thing.Ratso and Ratfink.Table one.MOOOVE IT!"Two of the rats grabbed
the tray and scampered over the counter."YouDirtyRat, get away from the soup.RatsNest, you will NOT touch the silverware
drawer!"The big rat had the most
*amazing* drill-sergeant voice.

"Right." said Laura."Before those two get back, go and take
Speaker's order."He had claimed
his usual booth in the back and had his laptop open, doeskin gloves, brass
goggles and ivory walking stick on the table beside it.Ratley had to climb up onto s2la's grey felt
top hat to catch his eye.

Sean and Chris had finally
returned, the chase having given way to hunger.Sean was taking off the jacket of his customary zoot suit while Chris
laid his plumed hat on an extra chair."Serving
rats!ORDER UP!" Laura called,
ringing the counter service bell in the window.

"Laura?"

"Yes, Dom?"Laura hadn't noticed the trapdoor opening, or
heard footsteps coming up from the dungeons.

"Why are the *rats* serving
lunch?"Dom asked, taking off her
flying helmet, glasses and scarf.

"Well, they were here and
nobody has seen the mini-onions. Why do you ask?"

"You don't find that
unusual?"

"Nope.Hungry?Better grab a seat while you can."

More customers were coming in, and
the dining room was getting crowded. The
LabRats™ were running all over, carrying menus, delivering trays… even The
Drool had been pressed into service – clearing tables.The Bassett had finally arrived and was
seated opposite s2la, stroking his moustache and saying: "Tepes.Not Teeps.Not Tapes – 'Tseh-pesh', you idiot!"

---

Through the outside windows the day
had turned to dull gray, neither dark nor light.Looks likerain, Sarah thought.Drak and
Robin walked in.Strange to see the
dragons *now*, since they didn't usually fly in the rain, but then again,
considering the amount of flame a dragon could put out, there was no certainly
no need to worry about mid-air collisions.

"So how was the christening
and launch?"Drak asked the Chief
Dragon Lady.

"Uh huh.'March to the Market.' Just released, I
pre-ordered mine from iMazon five years ago. Ya gotta love Baen's advanced
release schedules."

Ev joined them at their table. "I'm
surprised they found the time."

"Well, after David finished
'Great-grand-children of Honor' and John finished 'Circumstantial Aldenata
Palladin Wars', Toni told them she wouldn't pay them for any more books until
they finished it, and it *still* took 10 years."

"ENOUGH!"

---

[Hmmm, perhaps Sarah's had enough? Tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion in which we hear...

"Hi Sarah! – look who I found – I told everyone I
needed to find someone who appreciated my genius – I just needed another
genius! – master da Vinci, this is Sarah – Sarah, this is Leonardo da Vinci..."